â–¶ Sustainability Slows Down in Packaging Industry: For the last five years, an annual study by Packaging Digest and the Sustainable Packaging Coalition has shown sustainability’s steady growth as a driver of change and innovation in the packaging sector. The latest study, released in October 2011, indicates this momentum might be slowing. A growing number of respondents (41%) say the emphasis on sustainability within their companies has stayed the same in the past year, compared to 31% a year ago, while 55% said the emphasis had grown within their company in 2011. Other findings include:
• The number of respondents reporting high or moderate familiarity with the issues of sustainability dipped to 80% in 2011 versus 83% in the 2010 survey, but still well above the 52% at the same level of familiarity in 2007, the first year the survey was conducted.
• When asked how they’d rate their company’s success in achieving sustainability, less than one-quarter of respondents say the business they work for had achieved levels beyond similar companies.
• Economic conditions were cited as a major reason that some businesses have scaled back their activities in sustainable packaging.
• Respondents tap Wal-Mart as the leader among retailers for its sustainability practices, followed by Target and Whole Foods Markets. Among consumer product goods companies, Procter & Gamble was most recognized for sustainability, followed by Coca-Cola and PepsiCo.
Source: Packaging Digest/Sustainable Packaging Coalition
Video Engagement: Nearly three-quarters of Web users overall watch online content in a typical week; 39% of all viewers spend between one and five hours per week with online video; and one-half (49.7%) of viewers say they also watch user-generated content, according to an October 2011 survey of 1,025 online adults in the U.S. by online media company Burst Media. Other survey highlights include:
• Comedy is the most popular form of online video content among all viewers (38.8%), followed by news (33.3%) and music (31.2%).
• Women are more likely than men to watch educational videos (31.2% vs. 24.5%) and drama (24.7% vs. 13.9%); men are more likely than women to watch sports (31.2% vs. 8.2%) and animation/cartoons (22.0% vs. 11.3%).
• Four in five (80.8%) online video viewers say they also use the Internet while they are watching television.
Source: Burst Media
Employee Comms, Anyone? According to a new study of business leaders by Weisman Success Resources, nearly half of survey respondents (44%) say they are not happy with the level of performance of their team members or employees. Other findings include:
• 70% of those leaders believe they need to adjust their approach to how they are communicating so they can better motivate their teams to get the results they desire.
• When asked to identify their strongest and weakest levels of leadership communication, 70% of those leaders who reported being happy with the performance of their employees attributed their success to strong, individual one-on-one communication with their team members.
• Interestingly, 50% of those unhappy with the performance of their employees also identified individual one-on-one communication as their strongest suit.
Source: Weisman Success Resources
Privacy, Up to a Point: According to a study by McCann Truth Central, consumers are concerned about online privacy, but aren’t too hesitant about sharing their information with brands as long as there are benefits. Specific findings include:
• 71% of consumers indicate they are willing to share shopping data with a brand online.
• 86% of consumers say that there are major benefits associated with sharing data with businesses online.
• 65% see a top two benefit as better access to discounts and promotions. PRN
Source: McCann Truth Central